Trick-or-treating with friends
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: Wirt and Sara are the proud parents of two beautiful little girls, who are growing up far too fast and don't want to trick-or-treat with dad anymore. Wirt's just not too keen on his girls being alone on the spookiest night of the year. Last day of the 7 days of Halloween challenge! Happy Halloween!


**Happy Halloween! The challenge was super fun this year. Sara and Wirt are my OTP so I had to write their future. It's great. See you for Thanksgiving and Christmas! :D**

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"Wirt, you have to stop pacing," Sara pleaded, grabbing his hand and trying to stop him from wearing out their floorboards. She pulled him next to her on the bed and rubbed circles on his hand.

"It's okay, Wirt. It's not the end of the world."

"I am an irrelevant, unbranded reusable water bottle uselessly, ironically polluting the ocean, mocked by all the creatures my pollution destroys."

"Do you write these down?"

"No, they just come to me." He fell backward onto the bed dramatically, pulling at his face in agony.

"Baby, you're being dramatic. They just want to trick-or-treat with their friends." Wirt winced in pain.

"Violet is too young to have friends!" Sara gave her husband a look.

"Repeat that to yourself, but slowly."

"Okay that's not exactly what I meant but she's not old enough to go out by herself!"

"She would be with several friends who we know and trust and she'd have Opal with her."

"Opal is even younger!"

"Violet is 12, Opal is 7. They're old enough to go around our neighborhood alone. They do that during the afternoon all the time."

"But not on Halloween! I'm supposed to take them around on Halloween!" He huffed.

"Wirt, they're growing up. They're not gone, but they're getting older. You have to let go a little. Just start with Halloween. They're not throwing you into the ocean like a reusable water bottle. You're just letting them go trick-or-treating."

"They don't want me anymore..." There was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Sara called, Wirt composing himself for his daughters.

"Daddy, can you tuck me in and read me a story?" Opal called. Wirt sprung out of bed.

"Of course sweetpea! I'll be right there."

"They don't want you?" Sara questioned. He stuck his tongue out at her childishly, both laughing a little at the reality of the situation.

"We'll talk about this earlier," Wirt said.

"Later," Sara reminded. He blushed, embarrassed.

"We'll talk later." Wirt picked up his youngest and carried her off to her room, decorated in fairy lights and plush toys and books.

"What's the story tonight, darling?"

"Hansel and Gretel!" She said with a cheer. Wirt turned to face the shelves, withholding a wince. Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks. Some of Opal's favorites, some of his least favorites. Stories about children getting lost in the woods and facing unimaginable terrors. He plucked it from the shelves and read with feeling, delighting his darling little girl with his over-exaggerations. She howled with laughter when he portrayed the chainsmoking witch. Her eyes widened to mimic the fear he put into Hansel and Gretel. Her father was a very dramatic man, and he killed it in their private performances.

"Now get some sleep, sweetpea. Sweet dreams, I'll see you in the morning, I love you." He kissed her head and pulled the fluffy comforter over her small frame.

"Night daddy! Sweet dreams!" Opal mimicked. Wirt smiled at the sentiment, trying to remember the last time he'd had sweet dreams. He clicked off the light, smoothed her blankets once more, and then went to check on Violet.

"Hey sweetheart, can I come in?"

"Sure, dad!" Her room was covered in artwork, maps, and monsters. Violet loved adventure, Violet and Opal both did. Wirt was tired of adventure. He'd had enough of it when he was a child getting lost in the woods. She put down My Side of the Mountain, which was an even worse type of story. A running away story. How terrifying. It was a good book, though.

"Do you need a bedtime story?" Wirt offered, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I've got one right here," she said with a smile, holding up her book.

"Alright. Don't stay up too late though, it's a school night." He remembered all of the sleepless nights of his own. He wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"Okay. Goodnight dad!"

"Goodnight sweetheart. Sweet dreams. Get some rest. I love you so much."

"I love you, too." She opened her book back up as he left, returning to his own bed and his own wife.

"How're you feeling?"

"It's not about them growing up. I grew up too. Maybe too fast, maybe not fast enough. It's not about that, I've just been pretending that it's about that..."

"I know." Sara surprised him with her confidence as she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him next to her, holding him and rubbing his back comfortingly. She knew what this was about. It had taken a long time, but he'd opened up about what they'd found over the garden wall.

"It's about that night in the woods. It felt like days, weeks even, but it was just one night. One night of us being hunted by a creature who wanted to strip us of all hope and purpose. I... I can't lose Violet and Opal. They're my hope and purpose, you three are the most important things in the world to me. I close my eyes and I see them suffocated by roots. See the life choked out of them by the edelwood, like it was almost choked out of Greg..." Tears spring to his eyes as he remembers, tears springs to his eyes as he sees a different body wrapped in roots, almost entirely engulfed. He was shaking, scared of losing them.

"You were strong enough to fight the lure of the beast, I know they're strong enough." She never treated his memories like they were false. That wouldn't do him any good. He just needed to remember that in this narrative he was stronger than the beast.

"I wasn't strong enough on my own..."

"And they're not alone either. They have their friends and each other. They have us. We just have to step back a little." She pressed her forehead against his gently, trying to make him see things as she did.

"I know... I know... You're right." He was reluctant to relinquish control like this.

"They're our kids, Wirt. They're just as unstoppable as we are." Now she stole a kiss, their lips so close.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too, Wirt. Always and forever."

"Sweet dreams," he croaked, trying to believe it himself.

"Sweet dreams," she repeated, holding him close, keeping the beast at bay.

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**Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit writing the part where Wirt teared up. I need to write for this show more often, it's literally been a year, though a little bluebird told me there was something Thanksgiving-y in the works. ;)**


End file.
